Part One of finding incredible vegan foods on a cross country road trip.

Since my birthday was spent in a corn field with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, we celebrated my birthday the night before, with some “Swanky Vegan Comfort Food” at Modern Love Omaha.

So excited to finally be visiting Isa’s much anticipated restaurant, I wanted to order one of everything on the menu. Now that I have been there, I want to go back and order one of everything on the menu.

I know that being one week in on our road trip at the time – with minimal fresh veggies and lots of peanut butter oatmeal breakfasts – may have enhanced this experience, but I will always appreciate fresh ingredients prepared in a creative and thoughtful way. This is what Isa and her staff does, and does very well.

The day after class was completed, I took Jason to Oregon’s wine country for a birthday vacation. We stayed at a lovely B&B on 130 acres of gorgeousness.

We ate at great restaurants and sipped wine at great vineyards.

We came home with a car full of wine and a couple new club memberships.

We enjoy our wine.

We toured one winery I have been wanting to visit for a while, and we both thought it was some of the best wine we tasted on this whole trip.

I also finally met a long time blog friend – I will tell you all about all of it soon!

Jason has been wanting to get away to our wine country for months now, and things kept getting in the way. When planning his birthday, I thought this would be a great vacation away. He has been saying all week that it was exactly what he wanted.

Many of you will not be surprised that one of my recaps of our Mexico trip focuses on all the animals and critters I saw. I am writing about what we ate, cities we visited and places we stayed, and will share those soon.

I hold most all animals near and dear, and delighted in seeing them everywhere. I know some of you can appreciate!

I took this photo upon checking into our first room in San Pancho. Looking out our top floor window, this pup greeted me from the roof next door! It was the entrance to an apartment next door, and the dog liked to hang out on the roof. He was there a lot.

Such a cutie.

While working hard swinging the morning away in a hammock, I spied a lizard couple climbing a tree.

Can you see them?

How about now?

The girl lizard gave chase.

The boy, chased.

Then he saw the paparazzi and his neck got all crazy defensive!

Maybe he was showing off for the camera?

These pretty birds were everywhere – and they sang lovely songs.

For several days we stayed in a great place in San Pancho – outdoor kitchen, sleeping area with palapa roof and mosquito netting, and a bathroom with a tree growing right in the middle! One of the walls was made up of tree trunks, open to the outside. This little guy was in that bathroom, and he hung out there for three days.

He started out on the wall, the next day he was on this leaf at the base of that tree. I’ll show more detail later about this place we stayed – it was great!

Different from the huge ones in the palm tree up there, these little lizards were all over the place. This little guy was in our kitchen.

Can you imagine how excited I was to see a dachshund?

She wasn’t always excited to see me – here she is giving me a big woooof.

The final few days of our trip, we stayed at a great B&B, complete with beirgarten. The owners lived on site, and had two dogs. What better dog to stay in a beirgarten than a dachshund?

They also had a sweet lab.

It was nice to be able to hang out with pups, when I was missing mine.

We have been “backpacking” in Mexico since I was here last – and oh, how I have missed you all!

Landing in Puerto Vallarta with only one night booked, we traveled through Nayarit and landed in several different places. I have just started to go through the 900 photos I took – I will share more about our travels in the coming days.

Our first night included this view on our balcony:

I really thought Jason might sleep out there. Our next home? Needs one of these. So very therapeutic for my water loving Jason.

This was our view for many days.

We celebrated the holidays.

We celebrated our anniversary.

We spent days and days on the beach.

We enjoyed tequila.

On the beach.

Everywhere.

I love hammocks.

This was my view.

A lot.

Another hammock perspective:

Now this little sweetie is my view:

We are all back home, and all is right in our world. Plus, we have a checked bag full of tequila. The vacation continues…

Basil had his own adventures while we were gone – I’ll share all of those too!

About

Hello! I am Kristina, also known as spabettie. I love the FOOMP and CRACKLE of a vintage flash bulb, and I love the view from my own camera. I love karaoke, tennis, and dachshunds. and I love food. Here you will find my plant based recipes - from the vibrant and bright to the luxuriously tasty. When it comes to food, my mind is always in overdrive, and I have an endless list of ideas to share! More about me…